Throughout the history of the firearm, particularly as to an instrument of warfare and defense, its development has been guided by the purpose of rapidly firing a large amount of projectiles while requiring minimal reloading. The shotgun is one particular firearm that has been an effective close-range weapon. Although the shotgun has been proven effective as an entry weapon wherein close-quarters impairs the use of long-barreled and/or high-powered weapons, its limited ammunition capacity, lack of interchangeability among ammunition types, and relative lengthy reloading time renders today's shotgun less than adequate in an urban-combat arena.
Various governmental and private security agencies throughout the world have expressed a desire for a compact, detachable, magazine-fed shotgun for tactical operations in close-quarters. Unfortunately, today's sporting shotguns adapted for law enforcement and military purposes provide an unsatisfactory option for many tactical situations.
The present invention is provided to solve these and other problems.